The man had been separated from a woman he was rowing in the river with, he said.

The man and woman were rowing in scull boats and had become separated.

"She said she was ahead of him and they were supposed to rendezvous in one place," Chickering said.

The water rescue task force that Chesterfield is a part of had divers in the water ready to search, and Swanzey and Brattleboro, Vt., had sent rescue boats ready to search the water when rescuers found him at the West Chesterfield boat launch.

"It turns out the gentleman was further upstream and was paddling back down. …Basically it was a miscommunication between (the couple). They were supposed to meet in one place," Chickering said. "We deployed for help just in case of the worst case scenario and we were able to send everybody back home."